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New research · Rheumatology
Med (New York, N.Y.) · 22h
StudyMed (New York, N.Y.) · 2026

Safety and efficacy of low-dose, cord blood-derived CD19 CAR-NK cells with 4-1BB co-stimulation in refractory systemic lupus erythematosus.

Zhiru Zeng, Wen Lei, Wenhai Deng … Huaxiang Wu
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RheumatologyStudy

Low-dose CAR-NK cell therapy led to remission in 80% of refractory lupus patients.

Safety and efficacy of low-dose, cord blood-derived CD19 CAR-NK cells with 4-1BB co-stimulation in refractory systemic lupus erythematosus.

Zhiru Zeng et al. · Med (New York, N.Y.) · 2026
Background

B cell-targeting chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy has shown efficacy in autoimmune diseases but is limited by toxicity, complex manufacturing, and high cost.

Methods

In this phase 1, open-label, dose-escalation study, five patients with refractory SLE received lymphodepletion chemotherapy followed by infusion of allogeneic CD19-BBz CAR-NK cells.

80% (4/5)
Results
Four out of five patients with refractory systemic lupus erythematosus achieved remission.
More results

Treatment was exceptionally well tolerated.

No grade ≥2 cytokine release syndrome and no neurotoxicity or graft-versus-host disease occurred.

All patients achieved profound B cell depletion, with nadir circulating B cell levels ranging from 0.16 to 1.44 cells/μL.

More results

Reconstituted B cells displayed a sustained naive-dominant repertoire.

“
Conclusion

Low-dose UCB-derived CD19-BBz CAR-NK cell therapy demonstrated an excellent safety profile and induced robust, durable clinical responses in refractory SLE.

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